If You Could Be Anywhere
by DisneyAddict17
Summary: At eighteen Hermione Granger is finally ready to get her life together and start her future. Then fate decides to intervene and the next thing she knows she is in the hospital and Draco Malfoy is there claiming to be her husband. How does she cope when she finds out he's telling the truth? HG/DM HP/GW
1. The Beginning

(Hermione's POV)

"Are you kidding me?"

Of course out of the 365 days a year, Mother Nature decides to make it rain on the day that I finally got the chance to land my dream job at the _Daily Prophet_.

I had gotten up extra early that morning to make sure that I looked absolutely perfect for my interview at 9:30. I had spent over an hour trying to tame my thick, unruly hair into a somewhat presentable braid and had meticulously applied my makeup over and over until it was flawless.

Afterwards I had walked to the tiny closest of the one bedroom apartment that I shared with Ron and picked out my favorite outfit that I thought was the most flattering. The plum colored chiffon blouse was cinched in tightly at the waist, showing off my slim figure while giving me great cleavage, and tucked into the black a-line skirt I had donned.

While I was slipping on my four inch black leather pumps Ron got up from our queen sized bed and slipped up behind me, wrapping his arms around my midsection and planting a kiss on the crook of my neck.

"You'll do great today babe. Remember that I love you," he whispered, knowing how anxious I was.

I turned in his arms so that I was facing him and leaned up to plant a kiss on his cheek then on his lips. "I love you too," I murmured, pulling out of his embrace and going to collect my cheap knock of coach bag (one day I hoped to be able to afford a real one) along with my umbrella.

Outside I quickly hailed a cab and directed them to where I needed to be. It took fifteen minutes before I was making the dash into the lobby of the main office, which had recently relocated, after being destroyed during the war, to the heart of London. I sought out the secretary at the front desk and told her I had an appointment to see Barnabas Cuffe. She typed something into the computer then pointed me to an elevator telling me to go to the ninth floor and it would be the second door on the left.

I thanked her then went where she had told me to go and knocked on the door labeled Barnabas Cuffe, Editor of the _Daily Prophet_.

There was a muffled voice on the other side of the door inviting me to come inside.

I opened the door half way and quietly slipped inside.

Barnabas was sitting at his desk looking over several sheets of paper of what I assumed was an article for tomorrows edition while drinking a cup of coffee.

"Good morning sir. I'm Hermione Granger," I said, stretching out my hand.

Barnabas looked up, his face bright and inviting, and clasped my hand in a firm grip, giving it a sharp jerk.

"Mrs. Granger please have a seat. I must say that it's an honor to meet you," he said, giving me a friendly smile.

I sat, mustering my most charming smile in return, and mentally embraced myself for the onslaught of questions.

Barnabas removed his reading glasses and began, "I have reviewed your application and am highly impressed with your credentials, but unfortunately I have to tell you that I just don't see you fitting in here with this company. With the economy the way it is today I'm sure you would understand that we can't afford to hire anyone without past experience. I'm sorry."

With that I felt my whole world come crashing down. I had been dreaming of working here ever since I knew what the _Daily Prophet_ was. I had my whole life planned. I was going to eventually marry Ron, have a successful career, move into a plush house on the outskirts of London, start a family, and settle down into the perfect life.

"Th-thank you. It was very nice to meet you," I managed to get out before standing up and walking out of his office in a daze.

The next thing I new I was outside, walking home in the pouring rain.

I could feel my hair instantly start to frizz and it didn't take much longer for my clothes to get plastered to my body.

The rain mixed in with the tears on my face and burned my cheeks as I felt my mascara smear across my face. I didn't care, though,

It was dark and when I got to the end of the street I could barely make out the forms of oncoming cars as I looked both ways and hurried across the road. Before I could make it all the way bright headlights consumed my vision then suddenly a sharp pain flared along the left side of my body. I felt myself go flying through the air and when I hit the ground I hit it hard, slamming my head against concrete.

My mind couldn't seem to hold on to a single thought and black spots began to fill my vision until everything went dark and I gone.

(Next Part)

When I woke up my mind was filled with questions. How long was I out? Where am I? And what happened?

No one seemed to be around to answer theses questions, though.

When I opened my eyes I found myself in an empty hospital room, hooked up to several different monitors and my left arm in a cast.

I looked over and saw a chair pulled up to the bed, angled towards me as though someone had been sitting there for awhile watching and waiting for me to wake up, with an expensive looking black blazer jacket draped over it.

Before I could wonder who it belonged to there was a knock at the door and a young, female nurse, who looked like she had just gotten out of nursing school, walked in.

"Morning sleepy head! How are you feeling?" she asked in a high pitched, girlish voice.

"Morning," I croaked, "I'm fine, except my heads killing me. It feels like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it."

The nurse walked up to check my vital signs and laughed, "Well that's not surprising considering what all you have been through. It's a bloody miracle you escaped with the minor physical injuries that you did."

"How long have I been asleep?" I couldn't help but ask.

"About three days."

I could feel my eyes widen and my jaw drop. _Three days?_

Ron must have had a fit by then. Where was he anyways? Surely he knew that I was here.

"Um, do you think it's possible for me to get my stuff?" I had to call Ron to make sure.

"Sure, let me go and get it. I'll also let your husband know that you're awake now," she answered, writing something down on the clipboard at the end of the bed then exiting the room.

Husband? Ron must have lied to make sure that he could stay with me and see me first. That must have been why that chair was there, although why that jacket was there was beyond me since Ron didn't own anything like that.

Several minutes later the door opened again and the young nurse walked in carrying my purse.

She handed it to me, "Sorry but that's all they could manage to salvage. Everything else was lost in the accident."

The nurse was obviously new and not very good with keeping up with that type of stuff since the only other thing I had was an umbrella.

I didn't bother to correct her and thanked her anyway before digging in an inner pocket of the purse for my old cell phone. I felt my hand hit something and I grabbed onto it, pulling it out to find a new iphone.

I looked at it questioningly then at my purse and realized that the nurse hadn't even gotten me the right bag. This was a real coach purse and not my fake one.

I was about to say something to her before she left but the door suddenly burst open, effectively ending that thought.

My head started to pound and I felt like I was about to pass out again. _Oh sweet Merlin!_

Standing in the doorway, instead of Ron, was none other than Draco Malfoy.


	2. What Happened?

When I saw Draco Malfoy walk into the room I began to panic.

My heart began to pound and I felt my fight or flight response immediately kick in, my hand twitching in anticipation to fling the covers off myself so I could run. "What the-"

I was cut off by the door opening once again and a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair walked in. "Good evening, I'm Dr. Channing," he greeted cheerfully, picking up the clipboard that was hanging at the end of the bed and consulting it, "Alright so some scans that we took while you were out revealed some swelling in your brain so I just want to ask you a few standard questions"

I was barely listening and was more preoccupied by the fact that my worst enemy was standing just a few feet away from me as if his being there were the most natural thing in the world.

Draco stood there, beside the nurse, with his hands shoved in his pockets and when his intense gaze met mine he gave me a reassuring smile.

I decided that I was still dreaming.

"Alright, go ahead," I said, finally addressing the doctor.

When I looked back over at Draco I noticed that he appeared a lot older than the last time I had seen him. His features seemed to have matured and filled out. He was broader, slightly taller, and through his white dress shirt he was obviously much more muscular than I remembered. His stance was tall and confident. He radiated power.

I was also struck by how rough and unkempt he appeared. His white-blond hair, which was usually styled just right and slicked to the side, was disheveled and a falling in his face. He looked as though he hadn't showered or shaved in days and his shirt was wrinkled like he hadn't bothered to change either.

"What was the last thing you remember?" Dr. Channing asked, pulling out a pen, preparing to take notes.

I tore my eyes from Draco and tried to focus on what the question.

"It was raining and I was crossing the street on my way home when a car came out of nowhere and ran right into me. After that it's all a blur."

Dr. Channing gave me an odd look and consulted the clipboard once again, "It says here that you were taking a taxi from having lunch with a friend to go to the grocery store and a drunk driver ran a red light, hitting you from the side."

I shook my head. Someone must have written it down wrong.

Dr. Channing looked at Draco and he confirmed that the doctor was right.

_How does he know? Is he the bastard who hit me? That would just be my luck. _

I shook my head again vehemently, "No, I had just learned that I hadn't gotten my dream job at the _Daily Prophet_ and was walking home in the rain when I was hit by a car while crossing the road."

The doctor paused, looking at the clipboard once more, then gave me a questioning look, "Can you tell me what year it is?"

"Yeah, it's 2004," I replied, thoroughly confused. Why the hell were they asking me stupid questions instead of having Malfoy arrested? Why was Malfoy standing there as though he actually cared about me and whether I was hurt or not?

The room went silent and suddenly I got really worried. Was there actually something wrong with me?

"W-What?" I choked out.

"Sweetheart, it's 2012," the nurse said, concern etched out on her features.

_2012? This has to be some sick joke._

"What?" this time I shouted, "That's not funny."

"It's not a joke. She's being serious," Dr. Channing stated, "Mrs. Malfoy I think you are suffering from retrograde amnesia."

_I remember everything though, how could I have-wait did he just call me Mrs. Malfoy?_

"Doctor I really think that you have made a mistake because one, I remember everything except for right after the accident, and two, I. Am. Not. Married to this asshole!"

Dr. Channing's face remained passive, as though he expected my reaction, while Draco visibly flinched, pain written all over his face.

"You really don't remember anything?" Draco whispered.

I shifted my gaze between Dr. Channing and Malfoy. Draco was even paler than usual and he looked tired and despondent. His grey eyes bore into my dark ones as if he were begging for this not to be true.

"Oh I remember everything, especially loathing your very existence," I seethed, crossing my arms.

Draco took a step back as though I had slapped him in the face and ran a hand roughly through his pale hair.

When he recovered a few seconds later his face showed none of the emotions it previously had and his voice was calm and controlled, "I see. Well if everyone will please excuse me, I'm going to go get some air."

The next thing I knew Draco was gone and I was left feeling more confused than ever.

(Next Part)

After Draco had left, Dr. Channing and the nurse continued to try to convince me that it had been eight years since that rainy day at the _Daily Prophet_ and that I really was married to Draco Malfoy. They were unsuccessful and, after a half hour of arguing, they gave up.

The nurse took my vital signs one last time and made sure that I was comfortable before she and Dr. Channing left the room, saying that they would be back for more tests.

I fell asleep a little while later with a massive headache and was woken two and a half hours later by someone barging into the room.

I sat up and saw a woman of average height with dark chestnut hair march over to the side of my bed and whip off the oversize sunglasses that seemed to cover half her face.

The pair of brown eyes that stared back at me caused me to gasp.

"Ginny."

My best friend smiled, revealing a row of perfect white teeth, "Hey Hermione."

Behind her, Harry walked into the room carrying a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and one of those get well soon balloons.

He came to stand beside her and smiled sheepishly at me, "Hey Mione. I know it's not much but it's all they had at the store on the first floor. We would have gone and gotten you a real get better present but someone had to make sure that their makeup was just right."

Ginny winked at me, "A girl always has to look her best."

Harry teasingly rolled his eyes, earning him a smack on the arm. He placed the balloon beside my bed and surveyed

"So how are you doing Hermione? Dr. Channing called us soon after you woke up and told us how you can't remember the past eight years," Harry said, genuinely concerned.

I shrugged, "I still don't believe that it has been eight years."

Ginny snorted, "Tell me about it."

I shook my head but couldn't help but smile, "The last thing I remember was leaving the _Daily Prophet_ after being rejected and nearly being run over by some prick."

Ginny glanced over at Harry, "It's true. She really doesn't remember."

Harry sighed and walked over to the side of my bed. "Here," he tossed today's copy of the paper next to me in bed and I picked it up.

The date in the top corner said that it was February 2nd, 2012.

_If it really is 2012 then that means that I'm now twenty-six. Merlin, I'm old!_

I gently laid the paper on the table next to the bed and began to message the bridge of my nose. My headache was back full force.

"I don't understand."

Ginny walked over and sat down in the chair where Draco had been earlier in the day.

"You and I were having a girl's day and after we ate lunch you said that you had to go buy a few things so you could make Draco his favorite meal when-"

I stopped Ginny by putting my hand up, "But how could I have married Malfoy? We hate each other with a burning passion. Everyday when we were in school he would tease me and make fun of me, calling me every horrible name he could think of and play as many pranks as he could."

Harry went over to stand behind Ginny and placed his hands on her shoulders. She reached up and squeezed one of his hands. "He's a different man now Hermione," Harry said, softly.

I was about deny that, that was even possible but I was stopped by Ginny suddenly leaning over and grabbing my hand, her face bright with excitement. "Oh Hermione you must have a thousand questions to ask. I can only imagine what it's like to suddenly wake up in what seems like someone else's life."

I laughed, "Well there is one question that's been bothering me since you showed up."

"Shoot."

"What happened to your hair?"

Ginny looked confused for a moment then her face broke out into a huge grin, "I decided a few years ago that I was ready to get rid of that unflattering red and switch to a more toned down color."

I nodded slowly, "That makes since I suppose, but it's still so different."

"You should see yourself. You don't exactly look the same either."

I gave her a strange look and she just pointed towards the bathroom and helped me out of the bed.

When I saw the mirror I was taken aback by the woman staring back at me. She was beautiful.

My hair was no longer the plain, washed out brown that it once had been and was now lighter and highlighted with different shades of honey. All the frizz was gone and instead of tight, kinky curls my hair now laid in soft loose ringlets. My complexion was now smooth and sun-kissed and my nails were now painted a baby pink. My curves had really filled out and there was a healthy, happy glow about me. Age had been very kind to me.

"You're absolutely gorgeous now. Not that you weren't before but now especially," Ginny gushed, twirling me around as if I were modeling.

"Yeah especially with all the cuts and bruises," I said, blushing at her compliments.

"Those will go away within a few days though," Ginny replied, stopping twirling me so that I was once again facing the mirror. I kept expecting my reflection to change back into the plain looking girl I once was.

Ginny stood beside me, regarding me in a serious tone, "This is what he had done to you Hermione."

I knew that she was talking about Draco but I didn't want to think of the possibility that any marriage that I may have had with him was actually a good and happy one.

Although, now I was beginning to become uncertain about a lot of things.

(Page Break)

So here is the first "official" chapter. I hope that you enjoyed it and I want to thank everyone who has read this story. I hope that you will continue to read it and if there is any confusion then I apologize. The next few chapters should clear some stuff up so until next time.

-Reviews are welcomed!


	3. What Now?

(Hermione's POV)

"But I still don't understand. How could I have married Draco Malfoy?"

Ginny had helped me out of the bathroom and I was now back in the hospital bed with a million more questions than before.

Harry had excused himself to go find Draco when I told him that he had stormed out not long before they arrived, leaving Ginny and me to talk.

"Because you two fell madly in love with each other, as hard as that is to believe," Ginny said, as if it were obvious.

"But how?" I was getting ready to explode. Why was it so difficult to get a straightforward answer from anyone?

Ginny sighed, as if in surrender, "Not long after that day at the _Daily Prophet_ you decided that you were tired of not being able to live your life. So you sat Ron down and explained to him that you weren't ready to settle down just yet and you packed your bags and left. You traveled the world and got to experience the freedom you wanted. When you were in America fate brought you two together and you've been together ever since."

The thing about being best friends with Ginny was that I could easily tell when she was lying and now was one of those times. Although why she would lie to me about how I got together with Draco was beyond me. There was another question that I wanted to ask her, though, before I called her out on that.

"So where is Ron now?"

Ginny's face darkened, something I had never seen before, "He's not in our lives anymore so don't worry about him."

Not worry about him? But how could I not? He was the love of my life after all.

"But-"

I was interrupted by Dr. Channing walking in.

"The MRI, from when you were in the coma, showed that you have some slight swelling in the brain, which is what most likely resulted in the memory loss. Other than that and the scraps and bruises you are in perfect health. So you will be discharged from the hospital later today," he said and walked over to introduce himself to Ginny.

"If I have swelling in my brain then shouldn't I stay here so that you can monitor that?" I asked, confused by what he had just said.

"Of course you will be seeing your usual doctor frequently over the next few weeks to keep track of the swelling, but the best thing for you and your memory loss is to go home and be around familiar surroundings. I also advise that you try and do everything like you normally would. Don't push yourself to hard, though, or you could make things worse."

"I'll go and grab the men that way we can get out of here as soon as possible," Ginny offered, flouncing out of the room before anyone could comment.

The doctor gave me a reassuring smile and left the room, as well.

I put my head in my hands and for several minutes I thought I was going to be sick. I knew that I was going to have to go home with Malfoy and that seemed like a fate worse than death. How could everyone believe that I was really in love with him? We were two totally different people with nothing in common and were the least likely people to ever be married to each other.

My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and Ginny walking in with Harry and the man I was going home with.

"Hermione, darling, I'm sorry but Harry and I have to run. We have to go and pick the kids up from my mother's and that will be an ordeal. I hope you get better soon and I'll come and visit you tomorrow," Ginny said, coming over and giving me a hug.

"Kid's?" I was quickly getting to the point where nothing surprised me anymore.

"Yeah, two of them. Victoria Grace Potter and Chase Xavier Potter," Harry replied, oozing pride.

"And they are little monsters who need to get home and cleaned up so we can go out to eat tonight," Ginny said with affection, grabbing Harry's arm and all but dragging him out of the room.

"See you two later," they both called as the door closed.

I was now left with Draco Malfoy standing across the room regarding me with caution.

"What now?" I couldn't help but ask.

"We go home."

(Next Part)

Never in a million years would I have pictured myself living in a house as big as the one I was now standing in front of. Draco had brought me to a small, rural town that was peaceful and friendly and where everyone seemed to know everyone. It was the type of place where I would have wanted to settle down and start a family one day.

The three story house was located on the outskirts of the town and was a beautiful old Victorian home. The inside was just as, if not more, gorgeous as the outside.

Draco led me upstairs to our bedroom and I was instantly taken aback by the grandness of it.

The walls were a pale, neutral brown and the floor was hardwood. There was a king sized mahogany bed with a maroon bedspread and silk sheets that had a nightstand on each side. In one of the corners was an antique oak dresser with a matching full length mirror next to it. In another corner was a small desk and chair with papers strewn all over the top of the desk. Across from the bed was a set of French doors covered by sheer white curtains that led out onto a balcony overlooking the backyard.

It was my dream room.

"I'll leave you to change and get comfortable," Draco said behind me, setting my travel bag that he had brought when he first got to the hospital down on the bed.

"Thank you," I mustered, and he gave me a curt nod before leaving, closing the door behind him.

The first thing I did was take a shower. The shower was a massive, marble walk in shower with jet showerheads everywhere that blasted me with hot relaxing water. I usually didn't like to take thirty minute showers but I couldn't help myself.

When I got out I wrapped myself in a huge, fluffy white towel and found the blow dryer. I quickly dried by hair and styled it so that it flowed all around me in soft, frizz free curls. I seriously couldn't get over how amazing my hair looked now and couldn't stop playing with it.

I put away the blow dryer and went out to get some clean clothes.

In the dresser I managed to find where I kept my underwear. What I saw made me freeze. There was nothing but lingerie. I dug around trying to find something decent but all there was, was the lingerie. Disgusted, I grabbed the first semi modest underwear that I could find and quickly shut the drawer.

Then I went over to the closet and found that it was a walk in closet overflowing with clothes. On the left side was obviously Draco's clothes, an assortment of dress shirts, pants, blazers, and ties, while the right side was clearly mine. I browsed through the rack of clothes where they were arranged so that my nicest clothes were in front and behind several formal dinner dresses were my sweatshirts and pants.

I pulled out a tank top, sweatshirt, and a pair of yoga pants and went back into the bathroom to change.

When I got out I decided to explore the house a little bit more.

The first room I came across was a study and I instantly fell in love with it. All along the walls were rows of old books, several of which were the classics that I enjoyed while growing up. In the middle of the room was a large oak desk and a seemingly comfortable swivel chair. Off to the side was a window with a white chaise propped in front of it.

In that instant I got a flash of an image of Draco sitting at the desk doing work, while I was lying on the chaise reading one of the books from the shelves. I didn't know if that was just my imagination or a real memory and I quickly put it out of my head and moved on to the next room.

When I opened the door a wave of emotion hit me. The room was a nursery.

It was decked out with everything that a child could ever need and want. The walls were a faint blue with drawings of cherry blossom trees all over. Near one of the corners was a white crib with pink sheets and pillows that was filled with all sorts of stuffed animals. In the opposite corner was a white spindle rocking chair. There was, also, a changing table and a dresser. When I opened one of the drawers I felt tears fill my eyes. The drawer was filled with the most beautiful baby clothes ever and still had the tags on them.

"For years we tried to have a baby and finally last year you got pregnant with a baby girl. We felt so happy and blessed but four months into the pregnancy you miscarried. We kept this room so that one day when we finally had a child it would be waiting for them," the sound of Draco's voice startled me so bad that I slammed the drawer shut and whirled around to face him.

He was standing in the doorway with his hands shoved in his pockets and he looked around the room before his eyes finally met mine. When they did I was haunted by the look in them.

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes," he said somberly, before I could reply.

Then he turned around and left.

I couldn't stand to be there any longer so I quietly left the room and went down to join Draco in the dining room. He had informed me on the way home that we had a housemaid named Natalie who cooked and cleaned for us. I was appalled by the idea of having someone do those things for me, of course, but I decided to keep my mouth shut because I didn't really feel like getting into a discussion about it.

After Natalie had welcomed me back she served us chicken alfredo, which I quickly devoured. We ate in silence and when I had finished Natalie took my plate and offered me dessert.

I declined and said that I was exhausted and going to bed.

Natalie nodded, completely understanding, and I went upstairs after muttering a quick goodnight to them both.

I changed and crawled under the comfortable and inviting covers and found that I couldn't fall asleep. It seemed like and eternity of tossing and turning when I heard the door open and someone quietly walk in.

I pretended to be asleep and listened as Draco went over to the dresser and pulled out what I assumed was pajamas. When he came over to the bed I tensed, but all he did was take something from the nightstand before he left.

I was again all alone.

It felt like that was becoming the story of my life.

(Page Break)

I finally found the time to write this chapter, so please enjoy it!

-Reviews are welcomed!


	4. Memories

(Hermione's POV)

"HERMIONE!"

The screech nearly made me fall out of bed as the bedroom door flew open and Ginny walked in.

"What?" I groaned, looking over at the alarm clock to find that it was nine o'clock in the morning. Normally I would have been getting up around that time but I had barely slept that night and the past twenty-four hours had been really rough on me.

"Rise and shine sleepy-head!" Ginny went straight towards the French doors and threw them open, letting in even more bright light than before.

"Ugh," I raised my arm to shield my eyes, "Enough, I'm up I promise."

Ginny plopped down beside me and got serious, "How are you feeling?"

I instantly thought about yesterday and what Draco had told me. I didn't know how I felt about that yet. Yes I felt my stomach drop every time I thought about it, but this life still didn't feel real. I still couldn't believe that Draco really loved me or that I even loved him. The supposed fact that we had tried to have children and failed was something that I wasn't ready to accept just yet.

"I honestly couldn't even begin to tell you," I replied, running a hand through my hair.

"Well don't worry it'll get easier with time," Ginny said, patting my knee before jumping up and returning to her usual peppy self.

"Alright so get up, get dressed, and come downstairs. I have some stuff to show you."

She grabbed my arm and tugged me out of bed and shoved me towards the bathroom before leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

I quickly took a shower and changed into a pair of jeans and a tank top.

When I went downstairs I found Ginny and Natalie in the kitchen. Natalie was cleaning dishes and Ginny was sitting at the island drinking something from a mug. The two were casually talking when I walked in and they stopped when they saw me.

"Would you like some coffee," Natalie offered, drying her hands on a nearby towel.

I nodded and watched as she maneuvered her way through the kitchen and pulled out a mug from one of the many cabinets, which appeared to be filled with them, and went over to the coffee pot that was next to the ginormous refrigerator.

She was a middle-aged woman with a kind face and from what I could tell so far a personality to match it. When I first met her I instantly liked her.

"Here you go miss," she said, handing me the cup.

"Natalie have I not ever asked you to call me Hermione?" I couldn't help but ask.

Natalie paused on her way back to the dishes and I could just barely make out her timid, "yes."

"Then please do. Being called miss makes me feel old," I said, taking a sip of my hot coffee and remembering how much older I was now, causing me to fight the urge to shudder.

"Formalities aside I want to show you this so get your butt over here," Ginny interjected, pointing to the seat next to her.

I conceded and when I was comfortable Ginny pushed what looked like a scrap book in front of me.

"What is it?"

Ginny gave me a look like I was stupid.

"I mean why did you give me this?"

"Open it and you'll see," she said, poking me in the arm.

So I did and what I saw took me by surprise.

It was a scrapbook filled with pictures of me and Draco.

"This was when you two were in America. I thought it might help bring your memory back. I found that and some home videos before you got up," Ginny commented.

I nodded in acknowledgement as I slowly flipped through the pages, completely engrossed by the book. The first picture I saw was of the two of us standing in front of a Starbucks with one arm wrapped around each other and clinking two travel cups with the other. There was snow all around and we were bundled up in coats, scarves, mittens, and hats. Even though it looked like miserable conditions we were both smiling and I seemed to be laughing at something Draco had said.

Another photo showed me sitting on a couch reading a book with Draco laying on it asleep with his head on my lap and me looking at the camera with my finger at my mouth, obviously gesturing for the person taking the picture to be quiet.

A few pictures over we were gathered in front of a Christmas tree opening presents and laughing.

In the last one Draco was washing dishes while I dried them. We looked like a normal couple doing chores together, except for the fact that we were both drenched in water, as if we had been play fighting and splashing each other.

"Is anything coming back to you?" Ginny asked, hopeful.

I shook my head and forced myself to close the book. I was in total shock at how happy we seemed.

"Okay then let's go watch some of those videos."

The two of us got up and went into the living room and spent the next couple of hours watching home videos on the huge plasma TV.

The first two were mostly filled with Draco and I hanging out with a group of people that I didn't recognize and having a good time like any other couple would.

It was the third video that really got to me.

It was mine and Draco's wedding video.

The beginning started at what appeared to be a backyard that was decked out with plenty of decorations. Draco was standing in front of a preacher and Harry was right next to him. All around there weren't but an estimated fifteen people.

Soon the camera focused on Ginny, who was obviously my maid of honor, as she walked down the "aisle". Then it showed me and my dad as we soon followed. When I saw myself I sucked in my breath at how gorgeous I was.

My hair was pulled into a high bun and my veil fell to the ground and trailed me. The dress itself was an ivory, a-line dress that was covered in lace. It had a halter bodice with a ruched waist and an obi sash that really flattered my figure.

When Draco first saw me his eyes widened and he visibly swallowed. Then he smiled as my father gave me away and appeared to whisper something in my ear, causing me to blush.

After the ceremony was over everyone gathered around to congratulate us before the video ended.

"You two decided to have a small ceremony with your closet's friends in mine and Harry's backyard," Ginny said, once the screen went black, "You two were so in love."

And for the first time since I woke up in this new life I actually started to believe that it was true.

(Page Break)

Okay, not much I know, but it's progress. I promise that in the next chapter Draco will actually have a part. It's late, though, and I'm really tired so please let me know what you think.


	5. Moving Forward

(Hermione's POV)

Ginny showed me a few more videos, after the wedding video, of us at various times, such as Christmas or someone's birthday. After that I started to feel overwhelmed and knew that a headache was coming on.

"Okay, I get that we were happily married but that still doesn't change the fact that I don't remember any of it," I said, getting from the couch and heading back into the kitchen. Natalie was no longer there so I managed to find a glass and fill it with water.

"So what are you going to do?" Ginny asked behind me.

"I don't know. I need time to think first," I replied, draining the glass.

"Well if it all ever gets to be too much then our guest room is always available."

I nodded appreciatively, "Thanks. Where is Draco anyway?"

Ginny smiled and flipped her now brunette hair over her shoulder, "At work. He's head of the Auror Office."

I felt my jaw drop, "You're kidding me right?"

Ginny laughed, "Ironic. I know."

Then she gave me a serious look, "We weren't kidding about him being different now Hermione. He's a good man and a good husband. I hope that you give him the chance to prove it to you."

I knew that I had a lot of decisions to make soon but right then I didn't really want to talk about my situation anymore so I changed the subject.

"So what do I do? Or do I even work now, since I'm married to a rich Malfoy?"

"Your part of the Minister's support staff with the fancy title of "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic"."

For a minute I thought that I had heard her wrong but the look on her face told me otherwise. _How could I have landed that job? It's way more than what I deserve._

As if Ginny had read my mind, "Harry's the Minister now and when you came back from America he wanted you to have the position. And no it's not because you're one of his best friends. He really thought that you deserved it and he wouldn't trust anyone else to do the job."

"But-"

"None of that now. You do deserve the job and you know it. Now I have a little surprise for you if you will just follow me."

I laughed at Ginny's stubbornness and followed her out into the expansive backyard.

It truly was beautiful. We were standing on the patio where off to the side was a table and chairs. On the other side was a pathway that led off into an amazing garden that was filled with vibrant colors and exotic plants.

Out of my peripheral vision I could see an inhuman figure coming straight at me and before I had the chance to react I was on the ground with something wet hitting my face.

"Lady get down. You know better than that," Ginny called, obviously trying no to laugh.

Finally I managed to get the creature off of me and stand up. When I looked to see what attacked me I found a gorgeous black and white husky sitting in front of me, tail wagging and tongue hanging out. The dog looked pained at not being able to lick my face anymore but she stayed where she was.

"This is Lady. You two adopted her from one of those rescue places when she was a puppy about two years ago," Ginny introduced, "You would have seen her sooner but when you were in the hospital the kids begged Draco to let us watch her for you guys and since he's such a softy for those two I ended up having to take care of a dog that has personal space issues."

Lady wagged her tail even harder and looked immensely proud of herself.

I laughed and walked over to pet her. She lapped up the attention and rolled over onto her back so that I would rub her stomach.

"Ma'am, would you and Mrs. Potter like some lunch?"

I turned to see Natalie standing at the door with a huge smile on her face. She waved at Lady, who barked happily and trotted over to offer her stomach to Natalie, as well.

"If you wouldn't mind. And could we eat it out here please?"

Natalie gave me a strange look, "Mrs. Malfoy remember that I work for you so if you want to eat lunch out here then I'll make sure that it happens."

I nodded and gave her a weak smile. It was still really hard for me to get used to having housemaid.

Luckily Natalie didn't say anything else about the matter and went inside to fix our meal.

Ginny and I went over sit down at the table and Lady joined us by sitting next to me and resting her head in my lap. It hadn't taken but a minute and I already loved the animal.

"So what are your two kids like?"

Ginny's face lit up at the question. "They're wonderful. Victoria is just like her daddy and Chase really takes after me."

Then she was off talking about how smart and brave Victoria was and how funny and charming Chase was. Victoria was seven and just two years older than Chase.

"You and Victoria always got along the best. She actually does remind me of you in a lot of ways."

Just then Natalie came out carrying a tray full of food. She set down a plate in front of each of us that had a sandwich and chips and she also set down two glasses of water.

Ginny and I both thanked her and she left us to continue our conversation for another couple of hours and only interrupted us to clean up our mess.

Afterwards Ginny told me that she needed to get home and start supper so we hugged and made promises to see each other again soon before she gathered her stuff and left.

I went back into the kitchen to see if Natalie needed any help with anything but she was nowhere to be seen. I searched all over the house before I finally found her in her room on the third floor.

She was packing a small bag and informed me that she usually got off early on Tuesdays because she got Wednesdays off.

I agreed that she needed the time since she already did so much and apologized for interrupting her before going back downstairs to gather up all the videos in the living room that Ginny and I had left out.

Not long after that Natalie came downstairs to say goodbye before she left and I was once again all alone with nothing to do but wait for Draco to come home.

So I went up to the study and picked out a good book to occupy my time with.

(Next Part)

A little while later I heard a noise downstairs and I went to find Draco kneeling in the kitchen scratching Lady behind the ears.

"Hey," I said, walking over to give Lady some affection, as well.

"Hey," Draco replied, cautiously, an exhausted look on his face.

I knew that we were going to have to talk about us soon, but I wasn't ready for that just yet.

"So what do you want to do for dinner? Natalie already left not long ago."

Draco stood up and walked over to the refrigerator and looked around before answering me. "I know that leftovers aren't your favorite but do you want some from last night because I can't think of much else right now?"

I didn't want to argue with him so I agreed and set about fixing drinks while Draco warmed up two plates of leftovers.

We ate in silence for the first part of the meal before I finally found the courage to say what I needed to.

"Draco, we need to talk."

He flinched when I said that and I knew that he was expecting me to tell him that I was leaving him because I couldn't stand to be with him anymore.

"I've had all day to think about this and I've decided that I'm willing to try."

Draco looked stunned and it took him a moment before he could manage to say anything. "You mean that you'll stay?"

I nodded, "Yes. I want to be able to remember everything and I think that staying here with you is the best thing to do right now.

Draco actually smiled for the first time since all this began and for a moment I could see how I could have been attracted to him. I didn't know if giving him that hope was the best thing right now but I meant every word I said.

(Next Part)

Later that night I was curled up on the couch in the living room with a fire going in the fire place. I had the TV on merely for the sake of it and wasn't paying any bit of attention to it.

I was tired but my mind was wide awake with worry over what was going to happen now. I felt like I had made a huge promise that I wasn't sure that I could keep. Although it wasn't as though I had said I had any intentions of being in love with him again. I didn't know if I was capable of that right now.

But still felt like I owed it to him. He had obviously changed. I could tell that in just the short time I had been around him again. He had matured and was no longer that obnoxious teenage boy he had been when we were younger.

I decided to put all of that out of my mind and got up to go into the kitchen to make myself some hot chocolate. When I entered the room, though, I stopped when I saw Draco standing in front of the sink, sleeves rolled up, washing dishes. I couldn't stop myself and burst out laughing.

Draco jumped at the sound but when he saw that it was me he relaxed and kept washing the plate he was holding without saying a word.

"I never thought I would see the day when Draco Malfoy washed dishes."

Draco shrugged, "I'm a complicated man."

I laughed again, "That is very true. Would you like some company?"

Without waiting for an answer I walked over and grabbed a dish towel and started drying the dishes that he had already gotten.

After awhile we fell into light conversation as Draco told me about his day at the ministry and Lady soon joined us, plopping herself down beside us and quickly falling asleep. I was strangely comforted by this unusual situation and for the moment I found myself not caring whether I ever got my memories back or not.

(Page Break)

Here you guys go! Let me know what you think.


	6. Going Back

(Hermione's POV)

That morning I was woken by the feeling of suffocation. It was way to hot.

When I opened my eyes I found the cause of the heat in the form of Lady curled up next to me with her head resting on my hip.

"Lady," I groaned, rolling over to see the alarm clock on the nightstand read 7:48.

I groaned again.

Then Lady sat up and gave a little bark to let me know that she was hungry. I rolled back over and petted her side, looking over at the rest of the empty bed. As much as I already loved Lady and appreciated her company that night it was still incredibly lonely in the vast room.

"Alright let's get you taken care of."

I forced myself out of bed and Lady started wagging her tail at me.

I rolled my eyes at her. "I can already tell that you're spoiled rotten."

She gave another little bark and followed me into the closet to grab a change of clothes before I went to take a shower, while she happily waited right outside the door. When I got out I went downstairs into the kitchen with Lady right at my heels.

Draco was already there, in his work robe, making breakfast.

"Morning," he said, scrounging around trying to make sure that nothing burned.

"Morning. Where is Lady's dog bowls and food?"

Draco turned towards me and gave me a smile that I had to admit was actually kind of cute.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

"Are you sure?"

Draco nodded, "Yeah, I usually do it anyway because you're usually already at work by this time."

Somehow I wasn't surprised by this.

"Here if you will take over for me I'll go ahead and get that done."

Draco walked over to the double doors that led to the backyard and let Lady out, disappearing after her for several minutes while I took over the cooking.

When I lived with Ron I had always done the cooking so making breakfast now wasn't anything new to me. I flipped and stirred everything until it was just right and turned the burners off so that the food wouldn't continue to cook while I found some plates. I piled the plates high with food and when Draco came back he set the table for the two of us.

We ate and talked for awhile before I finally found the courage to ask a question that had been nagging me ever since Ginny had mentioned it.

"When can I go back to work?"

Draco froze, a forkful of food halfway to his mouth.

"I know that I just got out of the hospital but I can't stand being cooped up here for another day. Especially since Natalie is running errands all day and isn't here to keep me company and Ginny took the kids shopping. I mean don't get me wrong. I love the house; it's just that there is only so much time I can spend here before I go insane." I rambled, not completely sure why I was defending my right to work when I was a fully grown woman.

Draco sighed and lowered his fork. "Hermione I don't think-"

"That sounds like a great idea actually."

We both jumped and turned to see a grinning Harry strolling over to join us at the table.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you guys," he said, leaning over to swipe some food off of Draco's plate.

"Hey!" Draco exclaimed, giving him one of his famous sneers.

"Oh relax mate. At least your wife doesn't have you on this new diet that's slowly starving you to death," Harry replied, giving him a friendly pat on the back.

Draco rolled his eyes. "At least I don't need a diet to maintain this perfect figure," he countered back.

Harry chuckled and leaned over to swipe something else from his plate, earning him a glare from Draco.

I was stunned by the display in front of me. Since when were the two of them friends?

"So, Hermione I came over to check on you before I went to work and I wanted to tell you to take as much time off as you needed but if you're ready to come back then-"

"Watch it Potter," Draco cut him off, giving him a warning look.

Harry looked at him questioningly. "Draco, she needs to get back into her usual routine. I'm not saying that she has to go all day or that I'm even going to let her take on the workload that she usually does. I just think that showing up at the office for a couple of hours might help her."

"It's too soon."

"Draco stop being so overprotective."

I slammed my hands on the table causing the two to go silent and look at me in surprise.

"I'm not five years old. I can make my own decisions and I don't need you two fighting about what's good for me and what's not, like I'm not even here. It's not helping anything," I all but yelled.

Harry looked guilty and Draco looked like he wanted to protest some more but he kept his mouth shut.

Finally he conceded. "Fine. But only for a couple of hours."

(Next Part)

The next day I got up and quickly took a shower.

When I got out I dried my hair and pulled it back into a messy bun, pulling out a few curls to frame my face. I kept my makeup light and natural with light brown eyeshadow, mascara, and lip gloss.

The outfit I chose was a blue sleeveless dress with a lace yoke and chiffon skirt that ended at mid-thigh. The dress emphasized my narrow waist and showed off my toned legs in a way that I never thought possible.

I put a black blazer over it and put in a pair of diamond stud earrings before heading out to grab a pair of simple, black, round toe pumps with a three inch heel.

When I was completely ready I went downstairs to have breakfast.

As usual, Natalie was already in the kitchen setting two plates full of food on the table, where there were place settings.

"Good morning miss," Natalie greeted upon seeing me.

"Morning," I replied, having given up on the whole miss issue.

"Smells wonderful Natalie," a familiar voice said behind me.

I turned around and saw Draco standing in the doorway, already in his robe and groomed to perfection.

I couldn't help but blush when I noticed his eyes travel down my body then back up to meet my gaze. _That bastard. He's not even trying to hide it._

"Thank you sir. And good morning to you too." Natalie went over to the island, where she had sat some cups and a pitcher of orange juice, and brought them over to the table.

Draco and I walked over to the table and as I started to sit down Draco came over and pushed my chair under me in a gentlemanly way. "You look amazing," he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. I knew that I should be repulsed by his actions and words but for some reason it was actually quite charming.

After breakfast I gathered my robe and wand and together Draco and I flooed to the Ministry. He showed me to my office and the whole way there we would pass people who all seemed to know me and would welcome me back. I didn't recognize a single face.

My assistant, Amber, hugged me as soon as I walked into our adjoined office.

"Oh my God! It's so good to see you again. I'm so happy that you're alright," she gushed, letting me go and taking a step back to study me. "So do you really not remember anything?"

I had to laugh at her blunt attitude. I liked her already.

"Yeah, unfortunately it's true."

"Not even me?"

I shook me head.

She waved her hand as if it were impossible, "Oh well. Don't worry you'll get to know me again soon enough. Let's get you settled in first, though."

She took my hand and started to drag me to my office, nodding to Draco to let him know that she could take it from there.

"Good luck," he told me, giving me a little wave of encouragement before heading to his own office.

(Next Part)

It didn't take long before I was already consumed in my work.

Harry had apparently already alerted Amber that I wasn't allowed to take on too much just yet. So she had shown me everything I needed to know for now and left me with a small pile of paperwork, with the promise that I could actually do something once I got it done.

I dived into the files, head first, and was already more than halfway through. All I had left was to revue and approve of a budget for the latest remodeling project for one of the departments.

As much as I loved working I couldn't help but think back to when I was with Ron.

We had only dated seven months before the whole _Daily Prophet_ fiasco. Ron had worked as a store clerk in Quality Quidditch Supplies, often staying overtime. We didn't have much money and paying rent was getting harder and harder. That was why I had chosen to seek out work then. There wasn't anything available though and our relationship suffered because of it. Ron was stressed all the time and very distant. He took up drinking, which didn't help the money problem.

Then I didn't get that job and I got in that accident, or so I had thought.

I hated what happened. I had never cared about money but paying for everyday expenses was something that had to be done.

Now I was married to the guy who I had always considered my enemy and had everything I could ever want.

It was kind of ironic.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and looked at the pictures on my desk. There were three and all of them were of me and Draco together, looking more in love than any of the pictures of me and Ron.

I had to admit that I didn't mind being around him anymore. He could be funny and talking to him no longer ended with me either in tears or ready to hex the next person I saw, like when we were in Hogwarts. Not that I would ever tell him that.

There was a knock at my door and I nearly fell out of my seat. Draco popped his head inside and offered to take me to lunch.

Not realizing how much time had already gone by, and how hungry I was, I agreed, but only if he was paying.

He laughed, "Of course. I am after all a Malfoy and therefore the perfect gentleman."

I rolled my eyes but smiled anyway.

When we passed Amber's desk I let her know that I was going to lunch with Draco and she nodded for us to go on.

"Have fun," she called after us.

(Page Break)

Enjoy!


	7. Something's Changed

Guys, I am SO sorry that I haven't updated in so long! It just got so hectic during the holidays and afterwards I just couldn't get back into the habit of writing anything. I don't know when the next update will be but I'm going to try and work hard to make it soon. Please forgive me!

(Page Break)

(Draco's POV)

I honestly never thought that I would be friends with Harry Potter, let alone babysitting his two children.

"Uncle Draco can I have some ice cream?" Chance asked while pulling at my sleeve and looking at me with those puppy dog eyes. Even though he was only five years old he already had everyone in the palm of his tiny hand; me especially.

"Alright bud, but only a little bit. I don't want you to spoil your super because not only would your Aunt Hermione have my head but your mother would hex me into the next century if she found out I gave you all this sugar."

He giggled and I got a full view of his wide smile and the place where his two front teeth were missing.

Smiling, I got up and took his hand. It was so small and warm in my own and it made me long for a little one of my own.

"Uncle Draco, do you and Aunt Hermione still love each other?"

The question came out of nowhere and caught me completely by surprise.

"What makes you ask that?" I asked calmly.

Chance stopped walking, causing me to stop as well, and crossed him arms over his chest. "I'm five Uncle Draco, not stupid."

I had to smile at that one.

"Well, Chance, it's really complicated between me and your aunt right now," I said, crouching down to Chance's level. It had been a little over a month since the accident and I still didn't really know where me and Hermione stood.

"Why?"

"Because it just is."

"Why?"

"I can't really explain it," I said with a sigh; this kid was persistent.

"Why?"

I chuckled and ruffled his dark, reddish hair. "Okay bud, enough of this interrogation. You're just like your mum, always asking questions."

Chance frowned and looked confused; he seemed like he wanted to say more but I didn't give him the chance to. We walked into the kitchen and I asked him what kind of ice cream he wanted.

"Rocky road please!" Chance exclaimed, jumping up and down.

I pulled the ice cream out and scooped some into two bowls. When I gave Chance his he immediately dived in, spooning bite after bite into his mouth. The two of us sat down at the table and I took a bite of my own rocky road. It was pure bliss.

"What are you two up to in here?"

The two of us jumped at the sound of Hermione and when I looked she was standing there at the doorway, Victoria right behind her, with her hands on her hips.

"Eating rocky road ice cream," Chance said with a guilty look on his face, "You want some?"

He held up his bowl and the stern look on Hermione's face melted away into a fit of giggles. "No thanks little man. Now why don't you and your sister go outside and play or something? Natalie should be out there tending to her precious garden."

The two children got excited and quickly ran outside, Chance's bowl of ice cream forgotten on the table.

Hermione casually walked over, picked it up, and sat down eating it.

"You know if you really wanted some that bad all you had to do was ask and I would have gotten you some, instead of letting you steal some from an innocent child," I said casually, trying not to smile at her deviance.

Hermione jokingly rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the small grin on her face. She seemed genuinely happy and for some reason it made me really sad.

I knew that her accident had been tough on everyone, but it seemed to be the hardest on her. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it must have been like to suddenly wake up and find herself in a whole other life. Things had definitely gotten better between us but I still missed how life was before the crash. I missed us being completely and wholly in love with each other, not that I still didn't feel that way for her. I missed waking up next to her every morning, getting ready and going to work together. I missed holding her and comforting her when she was going through a stressful time at work. It seemed like a lifetime ago since the last time we said 'I love you' to each other.

"Draco are you okay?"

I instantly snapped back to reality and gave Hermione a weary smile. "I'm fine, but you have a little something right here," I said, reaching over to brush away some ice cream on the side of her mouth. The touch sent electric chills through me and Hermione quickly jerked her head away.

"I just remembered that I had something to tell Natalie," and with one final glance Hermione was gone.

Recently it seemed to be the story of my life.

(Hermione's POV)

That night I couldn't sleep and when I did I had horrible, vivid nightmares about waking up from a coma and finding out that all of my family had been killed and I was all alone.

After the fourth time of jerking awake and finding myself panicky and covered in sweat I decided to get up. I went into the bathroom and washed my face.

My head was killing me and my eyes were bloodshot. This wasn't the first time I had, had nightmares like that since the accident but it seemed like they were getting worse every night. It was really starting to get to me but I didn't know what to do. I could go to my doctor but they would just load me up with drugs and tell me to go see a therapist. I didn't want any of that, I just wanted to be able to have a decent nights sleep.

After I dried my face I looked at myself in the mirror again and tentatively reached up to touch where Draco's fingers had brushed my skin earlier. I could still feel where his touch had sent little tingles through me and the worst part about it was that I wasn't even repulsed by it.

Things had changed between us recently. I still didn't have my memories back but living with Draco for the past month had changed the way I saw him drastically. I could even kind of see how I would have fallen for him all those years ago.

He seemed to really love me and accept every part about me, my little flaws and all.

Suddenly I got an idea and raced out of the bathroom.

A few minutes later I was standing outside of the guest bedroom where Draco had been staying the whole time. Without knocking I gently opened the door and peeked inside. I couldn't see Draco through all of the piles of cover and blankets that were in just one big heap on the bed.

_Typical man_, I thought, quietly tiptoeing into the room and over to the side of the bed.

"Draco?" I whispered, not really sure why I was so nervous all of a sudden.

"Yeah?" was the half mumbled reply.

"Can I sleep in here for tonight?"

Without asking why, Draco pushed aside the cover and made room for me to crawl in next to him. I didn't object when he put his arm around me and hauled me onto his broad chest. His warm body was comforting and within minutes I was out.

For the rest of the night I didn't have anymore nightmares.

(Page Break)

And there you have a little peak into the thoughts of Draco Malfoy. Leave a review and let me know what you thought.


	8. An Unexpected Problem

So I know that you guys are wondering about Ron but don't worry, he'll have a part really soon.

(Page Break)

(Hermione's POV)

"How much more is left?"

I looked up from the file I was currently reviewing as Amber sauntered into my office and sat down in front of me. "Not a whole lot. I just have to submit one more application and turn in all these files. You should go ahead and go home for the night. I feel bad for keeping you here so late every night," I shifted through the stack of papers in front of me to see how many pages were left.

"Don't be silly. This is what I love to do, plus I'm paid for it," she reassured, giving me a genuine smile that showed off a set of perfect, white teeth.

I shoved all the papers back into the file and sighed, "Well you can stay here as long as you want but I'm done. I'm going home to a husband I don't remember marrying, a dog that has no sense of personal space, and a housemaid who refuses to let me help out in my own house."

Amber laughed as we stood to grab our purses from their hiding places. "It sounds like an eventful night."

"You have no idea," I flipped off the light in my office before walking with her to go home.

Normally I would have gone home with Draco, a habit picked up a few weeks ago, but I had received a message that he had left early. So I was surprised when I got home and couldn't find him.

"Draco," I yelled throughout the house.

When he didn't answer to any of my calls I finally decided to try our bedroom.

After the night I had stayed with Draco in the guest room I had started to take up the habit of sneaking in there every time I'd have a nightmare, which was increasingly often. I felt bad about disturbing him so much, although he never complained, so I finally asked if he would like to move back into our room.

As unsure about the situation as we both were, it had worked out fine.

"Draco," I called as I opened the door to our room.

Right at that moment Draco walked out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel covering his lower torso. His hair was dripping water all down his incredibly toned chest and his biceps flexed as he adjusted his towel tighter around his waist. His abs were solid and well defined, a perfect V formed where his pelvis began.

I was mesmerized by the sight but quickly snapped out of it when Draco caught me at the door, all but drooling. "Bleeding hell Draco," I shielded my eyes with my hands, for some reason secretly disappointed with myself for blocking my view.

"What? It's not like it's anything you haven't seen before," Draco chuckled.

"Just put something on," I could feel the heat creeping into my cheeks. As relaxed as I had become around Draco in the past few weeks I still didn't want to think about our past sex life.

I tried not to look but I couldn't help but peek through my fingers and notice the muscles in his back ripple as he opened and shut the drawer to retrieve his boxers.

Then he did something totally unpredictable. He dropped the towel.

I screeched in embarrassment and slammed the door shut before he could turn around, placing a hand over my frantically beating heart. His laughter was palpable through the door and I knew that he'd done it on purpose.

"Prick!" I yelled before storming off to the kitchen to eat dinner.

When I got downstairs I noticed that Natalie was nowhere to be seen.

I also noticed that the table had been set, with candles sitting in the middle along with a bottle of really expensive wine. On the island, was an assortment of different gourmet dishes.

"I thought I'd give Natalie the afternoon off and we'd have dinner together." I turned around and found Draco, fully clothed, standing at the doorway.

I swallowed roughly, the image of him dropping his towel flashing through my mind, "You mean kind of like a date?"

He nodded.

I didn't know whether to be pleased or unsettled at the thought of Draco wanting to 'go on a date' with me. After a moment, I decided that it wouldn't be so bad and sat down at the table.

Draco grinned at me like a child who had just been told that they could pick out a single toy at the grocery store as a treat for good behavior.

He walked over to the island and gathered a few dishes and brought them over to the table. "Here you go madam," he let me serve myself before scooping a bunch of food onto his own plate.

I giggled, "You are ever so much the gentleman."

Draco laughed and mocked indignation, "Isn't that what I've been telling you for the past two months? Is it really that hard to believe?"

"I suppose old habits die hard," It was still hard for me to imagine that it had been two months since waking up in this whole other life. So much had changed already. I now regarded Draco as a friend, hell I even had a tiny crush on him if I could be totally honest with myself. Once I had spent a little bit of time with him I noticed that he was actually really funny and incredibly smart, there was a reason we competed to be the top of our class. Of course he wasn't all that bad to look at either. All the care he put into his appearance really paid off. And the one thing that had really gotten to me was that he hadn't given up on me after I lost my memories. He merely took it as a challenge to woo me all over again.

"Hermione? Are you here right now?"

The sound of Draco's voice snapped me back to reality. "Sorry what did you say?"

"Oh no I'm sorry. Clearly I'm boring you," I could tell that he wasn't being serious by the boyish grin he was giving me. He was actually quite cute at times.

"Oh whatever, now tell me what you said before I really do lose interest."

"I asked if you would like to go with me to the Ministry's Annual Midsummer Ball?"

I had forgotten about that. In a little over a month the Ministry was hosting their Midsummer Ball and all of the staff was invited. Harry had asked me to send out announcements a few days ago.

"Sure," I found myself saying.

Draco smiled at me and we dug into our supper.

A few days later I was sitting in my office, looking through some contracts, when Amber burst into the room.

"Hermione you have to hear this. It's awful."

Amber looked as though she might cry and I told her to take a deep breath and start from the beginning. As much as I adored her I knew that she also had a tendency to overreact.

"Okay, well last night there was a breakout at the mental ward near Azkaban. Apparently this morning they destroyed a village about 500 miles away from there. They did a head count and found that about twenty of them escaped." Amber put a stack of files on my desk, "This is everyone who got out and Harry has called a meeting in five minutes."

I felt terror seize me as Amber told me what happened and it took a considerable amount of self control to keep my voice from cracking as I thanked her.

She nodded, probably out of fear of losing it if she said anything, and went back out to her desk in the little lobby outside my office.

I sighed and ran a shaky hand through my hair, knowing that the patients at that mental ward were just as, if not more, dangerous than the prisoners at Azkaban. They were the people that made even the ones at Azkaban nervous. If they were loose, even just twenty of them, it could end in a time even worse than Voldemort's reign of terror. Amber had, had every right to act the way she did.

I knew I needed to quickly look through all these files before the meeting and grabbed the first one and opened it to the first page.

What I saw made me go cold all over.

The picture id in the top left hand corner showed someone I had never expected. His hair was long and in desperate need of cutting and the beard that had grown was scraggily. He appeared to have lost a ton of weight and he was filthy. The look in his blue eyes would haunt me till the day I died.

It was Ron.


	9. Chasing the Past

Sorry it took me so long to update. It's the end of senior year and it's been kind of hectic. I'll hopefully be updating more often soon.

Also as a forewarning this chapter is a little dark so brace yourselves.

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(Hermione's POV)

It was late by the time I got home. When I finally did it was getting dark and windy outside, like it was about to storm. It seemed to fit my mood.

"Draco!" I yelled through the house. There was no answer so I went upstairs to look. It was safe to assume that he was in his office, doing paperwork while he waited for me to get home before we ate supper, so that's the first place I went.

I didn't even bother knocking and just burst through the door.

Draco sat at his desk and looked up from the book he was reading with a surprised look on his face. When he saw me he stood up and dropped his book on the desk.

"I didn't know that you were home. Are you okay?"

He was sincerely worried about me but I didn't care. I was way past caring.

"What the hell is this?" I slammed the newspaper on his desk. I had been fuming all day over the news and now I could finally let it out.

"I don't-" his eye's widened as he saw the headline.

"You LIED to me!" I was really starting to work myself up now. It was nice to finally be able to yell at someone about this. "You lied to me about him and no one else bothered to tell me the truth. What else is a lie Draco? Has this whole marriage thing been a lie? Has your so called "love for me" been a lie? Has this whole thing been some sick revenge for us beating you in the war and ruining your life?"

Nothing that I was saying was fair to Draco. I knew that he hadn't lied to me about us being in love and getting married. I also knew that this wasn't his revenge for all that had happened. I was being cruel to him and he didn't deserve it, but I was too mad to stop.

Draco just stood there and took it as I yelled at him. He didn't say anything until I paused to take a breath.

When he did he was calm.

"Hermione, I never lied to you. I need you to understand that. I never told you what really happened to Weasley because I didn't want to overwhelm you with that. What he did was too much for someone in your condition to handle."

"Bullshit!"

This time Draco did react. He took a step back, like I had slapped him in the face, and he had the most somber look. I knew that this was painful for him too.

"Hermione," he started to walk towards me, about to come hold me.

I wouldn't have any of it though.

"No!" I yelled as loud as I could.

Then I turned around, and without a second glance back, I started to run.

I took off down the stairs and through the main entry hall, trying to get to the front door. I just needed time to myself, time to decide what to do.

It was pouring outside and the wind was like a knife cutting against my skin, but I made myself keep running anyway. Draco was right behind me and I could hear him chase me outside, to the front porch.

"Hermione!" he shouted as he ran after me. But it was too late. I already had a few seconds start and that was all that I needed as the rain and darkness shielded me from his sight.

I ran for as long as I could with no clear destination in my mind. The rain pelted my face and quickly soaked through my clothes. The wind blew hard around me and threatened to knock me off my feet several times. What I was doing was stupid and reckless, but I didn't care. I just had to get away from that house. And most importantly, from him.

Okay, so this was really stupid and reckless.

I had been running for over half an hour and had no clue where I was. I could barely see and what I could see didn't look familiar at all. The rain had only poured harder and harder as time went by and I was thoroughly drenched and freezing. My hair and clothes were plastered to me. If I got out of this the chances of me getting pneumonia were pretty good.

"Oh Merlin," I pressed my hands to my eyes, trying to block out the world. It was too much. The past two and a half months had been more than I could handle. I was fine with being with Draco now, but I was so tired of no one wanting to tell me what had really happened before my accident. They were just trying to help but it made moving on impossible for me. Now all I wanted to do was sleep.

Instead I sat down on the side of the road I had been walking along and hugged my knees to my chest. I couldn't hold back the sobs that had been forming in my chest since I ran out. My head pounded with the headache I always got when I was crying so hard I couldn't even breathe.

I cried for all those times I never had since I had woken up. I cried for my lost memories, my marriage that I knew basically nothing about, the husband I had started to fall for all over again who didn't think I could handle the truth of my life, and all the mysteries that were left unsolved that no one seemed to want to help me with. I felt so alone.

Right as I was about to just lie down and give up, I saw headlights flash in the darkness. They illuminated me and the space around me and suddenly I was right back on that crosswalk on that fateful day all those years ago. I could feel the pain of losing out on my dream job and the stress of living life with Ron. Nothing had changed and I waited for what I knew was about to happen next.

But it never happened. Instead, the car stopped and Draco got out.

"Hermione!" the fear in his voice only made me cry harder. I never thought that I would hear him ever be that worried over what happened to me.

"What are you doing? You scared the shit out of me," he had me up on my feet and wrapped in his warm embrace before I could even take a breath.

"What do you care? Obviously you were right. I couldn't handle all this so why try to act like you don't know it," I sobbed into his broad chest.

I could feel his grip tighten around me, "You still don't get it do you. You're still stuck in the past and don't really understand that I truly love you. I do Hermione. I don't know what I have to do to prove it, but I love you. I always have and I always will. Nothing you say or do is going to change that."

Something about what he said struck me kind of funny.

"You always have?'

I more felt his sigh than heard it. "Yes sweetheart I have always loved you. Even before I knew it I loved you. The reason I ever acted towards you the way I did was because I didn't know how else to act. I wasn't even sure of my feelings for you then and I wasn't about to let on to it. When we first started dating while we were in New York I couldn't believe it. I never thought this would happen in a million years. I was and still am the luckiest man in the world."

I didn't know how it was possible but a fresh wave of tears poured down my face and I just gripped Draco's now drenched shirt as tight as I could, as if I let go he might leave me forever.

He put hand under my chin, forcing me to look up at him, and brushed away the hair that was plastered to my face. Then he did something totally unexpected. He kissed me.

It wasn't like in the movies where the guy places both hands on the girls face and puts all the love and passion into it that he can.

It was much more than that.

We wrapped our arms around each other and gave into what was happening. I felt more right and natural than it ever had with Ron. It was actually real.

It took me a moment to get my breath back once we pulled apart and I was happy to see that Draco seemed just as affected by this as I was.

"I love you Hermione," he whispered, gazing at me intensely.

"I know. I think…I think I love you too." Hearing the words come out of my mouth I knew they were true. I had spent the past two and a half months with him, getting to know him all over again. It actually made sense now that we were together, we were a lot alike. Surprisingly it didn't take me that long to figure it out. I guess I really had loved him all along. My mind had just forgotten for a little while, but the rest of me hadn't.

I could hear the hitch in his breathing and his relief was almost palpable.

He kissed me one more time before picking me up bridal style, causing me to squeal like a little girl, and carrying me to the car. He gently placed me in the passenger seat before running over and jumping in the driver's side, cranking the heat up to full blast. As the heat warmed me up and dried me off I was really glad that when I had married Draco I had enough sense to keep with a lot of the muggle ways I had grown up with. He may not have ever wanted a car but it sure did come in handy.

When we got back to the house we dried off and changed clothes. Draco started a fire in the living room fireplace and as we laid together in front of it, getting warm, he told me the whole story.

How after the war his parents had been convicted of all sorts of crimes and how his father had sent him to America so they couldn't get him too.

He told me what really happened with Ron. How after I lost out of that job and the stress of paying rent got to be too much for him, the drinking didn't help either. Plus the effects of that damn horcrux still lingered. All of that combined caused him to lose it. He just snapped one day and started beating me. He had every intention of killing me if it hadn't been Harry and Ginny coming over at the right moment. They managed to stop him and he got sent away to that mental institution.

I couldn't help but cry when he said all that and had to beg him to continue when he saw how upset I got.

He finally relented and went on to tell me about how I decided to travel after that incident and us meeting in New York. How we just happened to run into each other at Starbucks and, instead of us freaking out, he just calmly asked it I wanted to sit down and talk over coffee and I, just as calmly, agreed. We really hit it off, telling each other exactly what had happened after the war and how we had ended up in New York. Draco asked me if I wanted to have dinner later that day and I agreed again.

For some reason we were really good for each other at the time. Both of us had our problems and could relate to the other. We were each other's shoulder to cry on. After that it had developed into something more and here we were today.

When he finished his story I just curled up against him. I was so tired.

All I could manage to do was give him one more kiss and whisper, "I love you and thank you for finally telling me everything," before I had drifted off asleep, with my head resting against his chest.

He didn't object and was perfectly content to hold me as I slept.

(Page Break)

Okay, so I know that this chapter ended up with a happy ending but don't worry. It's going to get bad really soon. I promise.


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